SUBJECT

Title

Personality Psychology

Type of instruction

lecture

Level

master

Faculty

Faculty of Education and Psychology

Part of degree program

Credits

Recommended in

Semester 1

Typically offered in

Autumn semester

Course description

Aim of the course:

The aim of the course is to overview the most prominent classic and modern theories of personality and to provide frameworks in which adjustment or maladjustment in human functioning can be explained. Special attention will be given to a) placing the various theories into contextual and historical connections, b) making conceptual connection among the theories, c) applying the ideas to concrete clinical cases.

Learning outcome, competences

knowledge:

approach real life events from various perspectives
empirical background of personality theories

attitude:

a holistic approach in the understanding of inter-individual differences
interdisciplinary view

skills:

acquire skills to apply most theoretical constructs onto real life settings
elaborate alone the knowledge presented in the literature
present a theme in a coherent manner
understanding of conceptual connection among theories

Content of the course

Topics of the course

Self and individuality – their roots. Bodily self and social selves.
Self and individuality: temperament and traits
Psychoanalytic and neo-freudian perspectives (e.g. Jung and Horney)
Normal and abnormal self-structure 1.: object theories (e.g. Klein, Kernberg),
Normal and abnormal self-structure 2.: self-psychological perspective (Kohut)
Phenomenological perspective in humanistic psychology
Existential approach (Frankl, Yalom)
Transpersonal psychology (Grof, Assagioli, Wilber)
Phenomenological perspective in cognitive psychology (Kelly, Ellis)
Cognitive-experiential self-theory of personality (Epstein) and transactional analysis (Berne)
Self-regulation 1: a (psycho)dynamic perspective (defense mechanisms)
Self-regulation 2: self-determination theory, willpower, impulsivity and risk-taking, neural underpinnings of self-regulation
Mindset approach, personal narratives and positive psychological perspective

Learning activities, learning methods

Class meetings consist primarily of lecture, but there is some discussion too. Students are also expected to read some original classic and research literature alone and be able to discuss it. Besides group projects will give the opportunity to work on a topic independently and to practice how to present it in a coherent manner.

Evaluation of outcomes

Learning requirements, mode of evaluation, criteria of evaluation:

requirements

written exam in the exam period
to take part in a group project that has resulted an outcome

mode of evaluation: group project is a prerequisite for the exam.

The final grade composed: the project: 35 %; the exam: 65 %.

criteria of evaluation:

exam: the exact knowledge and the proper application of that knowledge
group project: quality of the work and presentation

Readings

Compulsory reading list

Murata, A., Wen, W., Asama, H (2016). The body and objects represented in the ventral stream of the parieto-premotor network, Neuroscience Research, 104, 4–15.
Rochat, P. (2003). Five levels of self-awareness as they unfold early in life. Conciousness & Cognition, 12, 717-731.
Clark, L.A., and Watson, D. (2008) Temperament: An Organizing Paradigm for Trait Psychology. In: O. P. John, R.W. Robins. and L.A. Pervin (eds.) Handbook of Personality. Theory and Research. N.Y.: The Guilford Press
Matthews, G.,Deary, I.J., Whiteman, M.C. (2003). Personality traits. Chapter 1. (pp. 3-37). Cambridge University Press.
Svrakic, D.M., Draganic, S., Hill, K., Bayon, C., Przybeck, T.R., Cloninger, C.R. (2002). Temperament, character, and personality disorders: etiologic, diagnostic, treatment issues. Acta Psychiatrica Scandinavica, 106: 189-195.
Mitchell, S. A., Black M. J. (1995). Freud and Beyond: A History of Modern Psychoanalytic Thought. USA: Basic Books (pp. 23-59., 85-138.)
Schultz, D.P., Schultz, S.A. (2005). Theories of Personality. Chapters 2.,Belmont, CA: Wadsworth.
Christopher, J. C., Bickhard, M. H., Lambeth, G. S. (2001). Otto Kernberg's object relations theory: A metapsychological critique. Theory & Psychology, 11,687-711.
Kernberg, O. (1975). Borderline conditions and pathological narcissism. New York: Jason Aronson.
Banai, E.,Shaver, P. R., Mikulincer, M. (2005). “Selfobject” needs in Kohut’s self psychology links with attachment, self-cohesion, affect regulation, and adjustment. PsychoanalyticPsychology, Vol. 22 (2), 224-260.
Feist, J.,Feist, G. (2006). Theories of Personality. Chapter 5. N.Y.: McGraw-Hill.
Kohut (1975). The Restoration of the Self. New York: International Universities Press. (Chapter 1., 2. 4.)
Schultz, D.P., Schultz, S.A. (2005). Theories of Personality. Chapters 11., 12. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth.
Roger’s counsellingencounter
MaslowA .H (1998). Toward a Psychology of Being. Third Ed. NY: Wiley,
Frankl, Viktor E.: Man's Search for Meaning. An Introduction to Logotherapy. With a new Foreword by Harold S. Kushner and a new Biographical Afterword by William J. Winslade. Beacon Press, Boston, 1963-2007.
Yalom, I.D. (1980). Existential Psychotherapy. Basic Books. pp. 3-28.
Grof, S. (2008) A Brief history of transpersonal psychology. International Journal of Transpersonal Studies 27:46-54
Elmer, L. D. , MacDonald, D. A., Friedman, H. L. (2003). Transpersonal psychology, physical health, and mental health: Theory, research, and practice. The Humanistic Psychologist, 31(2-3), 159-181.
Walsh, R. & Vaughan, F. (1993). On transpersonal definitions. Journal of Transpersonal Psychology, 25 (2), 199-207.
Wilber, K. (1997). An Integral Theory of Consciousness. Journal of Consciousness Studies, 4 (1), 71–92.
Ellis, A. (1991). The revised ABC’s of rational-emotivetherapy (RET). Journal of Rational Emotive and Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, 9, 132-172.
Fransella, F. (2016). What is a Personal Construct? In: Winter, D. A., Reed, N. (Eds) The Wiley Handbook of Personal Construct Psychology. Chichester: John Wiley and Sons, (pp. 1-8.)
Epstein, S. (2003). Cognitive-experientialself-theory of personality. InMillon, T.,&Lerner, M. J. (Eds), Comprehensive Handbook of Psychology, Volume 5: Personality and Social Psychology( pp. 159-184). Hoboken, NJ: Wiley&Sons.
Berne, E (1964). Games People Play.
Delroy, L. P., Fridhandler, B., Hayes, S. (1997). Psychological Defense: Contemporary Theory and Research. In: Hogan, R., Johnson, J., Briggs, S. (Eds) Handbook of Personality Psychology. Academic Press, 543-579.
Vaillant, G. E. (1971). Theoretical Hiearchy of Adaptive Ego Mechanisms. Archives of General Psychiatry. 24 (pp. 107−118).
Ryan, R.M., Deci, E.L. (2008) Self-DeterminationTheory and the Role of Basic Psychological Needs in Personality and the Organization of Behavior. In: O.P. John, R.W. Robins. and L.A. Pervin (eds.) Handbook of Personality. Theory and research. N.Y.: The Guilford Press.
Kasser, T., Rosenblum, K.L., Sameroff, A.J., Deci, E.L., Niemiec, C.P., Ryan, R.M., … Hawks, S. (2014). Changes in materialism, changes in psychological well-being: Evidence from threelongitudinal studies and an intervention experiment. Motivation and Emotion, 38: 1–22.
Dweck, C. (2012). Mindset: How you can fulfil your potential. London: Robinson.
McAdams, D.P. (2008). Personal narratives and the life story. In: O. P. John, R.W. Robins. and L.A. Pervin (eds.) Handbook of Personality. Theory and research. N.Y.: The Guilford Press.
Fredrickson, B. L. (2001). The role of positive emotions in positive psychology: The broaden-and-build theory of positive emotions. American Psychologist, 56(3), 218-226.
McAdams, D. P. (2006). The role of narrative in personality psychology today. Narrative Inquiry, 16(1), 11-18.
McAdams, D. P., Pals, J. L. (2006). A new Big Five: Fundamental principles for an integrative science of personality. American Psychologist, 61, 204-217.
Seligman, M. P. (2011). Flourish. A Visionary New Understanding of Happiness and Well-being. New York: Free Press. (Chapter 1, 2, 5, 6, 9) (pp. 5-44., 78-125., 182-220.)

Recommended reading list

Etkin, A. (2009). Functional Neuroanatomy of Anxiety: A Neural Circuit Perspective.
Kasser, T., Cohn, S., Kanner, A.D., Ryan, R.M (2007). Some Costs of American Corporate Capitalism: A Psychological Exploration of Value and Goal Conflicts. Psychological Inquiry, Vol. 18, No. 1, 1–22.
Kernberg, O. (2012). The inseparable nature of love and aggression. Clinical and theoretical perspectives. Arlington, VA: APA.
Klein, M. (1984). Envy and Gratitude and Other Works 1946-1963. London: The Hogarth Press.
Kretschmer, E. (1925). Physique and Character: An Investigation of the Nature of Constitution and the Theory of Ternperament. N.Y.: Harcourt.
Lasch, C. (1979). The Culture of Narcissism: American Life in an Age of Diminishing Expectations. N.Y.: Norton.